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29 May 2015

Electra-Cute is a medium orange creme with the best name in this collection so far! I don't have a basecoat or the Miracle Gel topcoat on in these swatches.

The formula was good on Electra-Cute. I have on 2 coats. It dries nice and quick and it has a crelly like finish similar to Creme de la Creme. It's not neon in person but a nice semi-bright orange. I like orange polish a lot but I find that it's one of the most underrepresented colours in the mainstream polish world. Even in Boots I always struggle to find any shade or orange let alone a nice plain orange like Electra-Cute. It looks dusty in the bottle but on the nail it's lovely.

I'm glad they brought out some nice creme shades in the Miracle Gel line. I'd love to see some more glittery polishes too.

The Summer Miracle gel releases are limited edition and cost the regular price of €9.99 each. They will be available in pharmacies nationwide from early June.

28 May 2015

Shock Wave is the 3rd and final pink polish from the Summer Miracle Gel releases. It is a beautiful bright but not neon pink with tiny blue and pink glitters (which sadly don't show up at all on the nail) It's not as bright on the nail as it appears in the swatches but it is pretty close. All swatches are done without a basecoat or the Miracle gel topcoat.

Shock Wave dries a touch darker on the nail than it looks in the bottle. It makes an amazing pedicure polish! It's what I had on my toes for the last few days and it looked lovely but be warned it does stain. It's not the worst in the world but I really would recommend a basecoat with all of the miracle gels just to be on the safe side. Like the rest of the Miracle gels I would recommend doing 3 coats.

This polish is VERY similar to OPI Kiss me I'm Brazillian. Shock Wave is a tiny bit darker but you'd be hard pressed to tell one from the other from afar when they are on your nails.

The Summer Miracle gel releases are limited edition and cost the regular price of €9.99 each. They will be available in pharmacies nationwide from early June.

27 May 2015

The second polish I have from the Sally Hansen Miracle gel Summer releases is 170 Pink Cadillaquer. This is a beautiful light Pink Creme. The swatches are done without a basecoat of the Miracle Gel Topcoat.

The formula is not watery like Creme de la Creme but it can drag slightly if you aren't careful. 3 coats works best with this one in my opinion. Unfortunately this isn't the best shade of pink for my skintone but it's a nice colour none the less. The brush was a bit dodgy as it wasn't full rounded but the rest of the polish brushes are perfect so I'm assuming it was just a once off. It didn't hamper the application all that much. Pink Cadillaquer dries a touch darker on the nail than what you see in the bottle.

The Summer Miracle gel releases are limited edition and cost the regular price of €9.99 each. They will be available in pharmacies nationwide from early June.

26 May 2015

**Several of the polishes featured were provided for my honest review**

Matte nails are the theme for this weeks Twinsie Tuesday. I decided to freehand some chevron nails instead of using striping tape. I find the tape always pulls up the base colour and it's so hard to fix. Even though they aren't perfect I think they look pretty decent for a first attempt.

I started off with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in 240 B-Girl. Once that was dry I added on Barry m Cyan Blue followed by Catrice Acid/ Dc. On my ring finger I simply dotted on Acid/ Dc and using a smaller dotting tool I added Cyan Blue in the center. My topcoat is the new Essence Satin Matt in Matt about You! I've had this matte topcoat for a good few weeks now and I love it. It was sent to my along with the Essence I <3 Trend polishes.

I wish my nails were a bit longer for this manicure as it would have been easier to do. Nevertheless I like the colours together but I might skip the accent nail next time. What do ye think?

25 May 2015

I have 5 more polishes from the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail line to show ye. I have swatches of the previous 5 here. I'm going from lightest to darkest,starting off with Creme de la Creme,a very pale ,almost white, pink with silvery pink shimmer going through it. This is a very pink focused release with 3 of the 5 polishes being various shades of pink. There is also an orange and a shimmery brown which is unusual but a nice change from the normal summer releases. All swatches are done without a basecoat of the Miracle Gel topcoat.

I needed 3 coats of Creme de la Creme which was expected given how light the polish is. The formula is slightly watery but it doesn't flood your cuticle. I left the layers a good few minutes to dry as it can drag leaving bald spots. It dries pretty quickly If you use a light hand you'll be grand, especially with the first coat. You could get away with 2 coats but 3 worked out best for me.

I compared it to a white polish just so ye can see how it leans more pink in person. It's a lot more flattering than a plain white polish. It has a crelly like finish to it so it's not as stark on your nails. I like wearing white polish anyway and this is just a a softer way of wearing it.

The Summer Miracle gel releases are limited edition and cost the regular price of €9.99 each. They will be available in pharmacies nationwide from early June.

22 May 2015

I was tagged by my friend Breige, alongside a few others, to do the Confessions of a nail polish addict tag. I haven't done a post like this for a long while so I thought I'd give it a go!

1. What nail polish are you wearing on your nails (and toes) right now?

On my nails I have Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 671 Moheato and a plain white polish on . I have the white polish on my middle and ring finger and Moheato on the rest. Then I dotted Moheato on top of the white nails and white dots on top of Moheato.

Swatch of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 671 Moheato

On my toes I have the new Sally Hansen Miracle gel polish in 310 Shock Wave. It's a gorgeous bright pink with purple and light pink shimmers. I have swatches of the latest 5 polishes from this release coming up next week.

2. What is one nail product you can't live without?

My cuticle pusher! I always use this before doing my nails and it really makes a difference to the end result. It makes the shape more even allowing me to get the brush closer to my cuticles without the polish going absolutely everywhere. Plus it means I don't have as much shaping to do with the clean up brush to get a nice clean line.

3. What is your favourite nail brand (mainstream and indie)?

This tends to change quite a bit but one of the brands I always fall back on is Essence. I don't buy much from them for a while and then they come out with a heap of colours and glitters that I need to get. Their base-coats are great and I've just come across a topcoat that I really like. They are on the lower end price wise but it does not dictate their quality.I rarely have to worry about them chipping on me and I can easily get a week of wear out of a polish without a problem. Catrice are also one of my go-to brands. They released a good few polishes this year that I need to get my hands on. As for the harder to get brands I'd defiantly pick China Glaze. I love the ones I own and they makes some amazing collections.

Essence So Lucky swatch

I don't own many indies so I can't say much about them yet. I do really like the polishes I have from Lac Attack and the holos I've tried from Colors by Llarowe are beautiful. Indies are so much harder (and WAY more expensive) to get shipped here so it's hard to get hold of some of the brands I want to try.

Lac Attack Puddle Jumping swatch

4. What shape nail do you wear (short or long)?

It changes pretty much every other week. I let them grow a bit and then I cut them to nubs depending on how they are looking. If I know I;m going to be doing something that'll be hard on my hands then I'll cut them short to make life easier. Sure they always grow so it's no big deal having shorties for a while.

As for the shape I tend to keep them squoval. I think my nails look the best in that shape. I have tried square a couple of times but they always snap within a week so it's not worth the hassle.

5. What is your go-to colour?

I really don't have one. I wear what I want and there doesn't seem to be a pattern. If I am stuck and I don't have time to do anything fancy I will reach for the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes. You don't need a topcoat or basecoat and that saves a lot of time! If I have time but I don't really like the polishes I have I tend to go for Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a little Lam Lam. I wear this during the Autumn/ Winter months mostly.

Nicole by OPI Khloe had a little Lam Lam

6. What is your favourite nail polish finish?

I much prefer creme formulas. I find the formulas tend to be easier to work with, they aren't as streaky as shimmery polishes can be and I think they look nice on my nails.

I do like polishes with slight shimmers and glitters but if you looked at my polish collection you would see mostly plain creme polishes.

7. What’s on your nail polish wishlist?

I have a ridiculous amount on my wishlist. The most recent indie additions would be Virago Varnish "Summer Highlighter of my Summer" and "Tsunami Mommy" from the Boardwalk collection. From the mainstream brands: China Glaze "Can I get an Untz Untz" and "Let the beat drop" and lastly from the Essence the Gel nail polish line: "Blue bubble di blue", "Do not be shy", "Electriiiic" and "White wild days".

8. When do you usually paint your nails (morning, afternoon or evening)?

Always in the evening. It means I can give them time to dry properly and I can spend time doing nail art if I want and I don't have to rush it.

The only time I paint my nails in the morning is if I'm swatching and I need the best light for the photo's.

9. What’s your top nail tip you swear by?

Hmm I don't think I have anything special to be honest. I always oil my cuticles when I take off my nail polish (both manicures and whilst swatching) and I think it keeps my cuticles in check.

10. What nail polish do you regret buying?

Oooh there are so many.... OPI I just can't cope-acabana is high up on that list. Models own Dream Stream,Catrice Genius in a bottle, NYC Pinstripe white. They're the ones from the top of my head but I'm sure there are many more.

OPI I just can't cope-acabana with Kiss me I'm Brazillian accent nail

11. Neons or pastels? Brights or darks?

At the moment it's hard to say. Given the weather I'd probably go for pastels over neons. I love neons but they really look best in the sun.

I tend to side more with dark polishes although I do like bright ones too. If I'm ever unsure as to what polish I want to wear I usually end up picking out a dark polish (usually a dark teal)

12. What is your holy grail white, black and nude polish?

I don't have a holy grail white polish as of yet. I've tried a tonne but none of them are worth repurchasing. As for black polish I think Essence Black is back is amazing. I love Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl but I think that was limited edition.

I like a lot of nude polishes but they don't often look that good on me. Essence Iced Latte is probably my favourite but like white polish I don't think I have a Holy Grail nude polish just yet.

Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl

13. What is one brand you want to try but haven’t yet?

Oh I have a tonne of brands I want to try but most of them are indies. Superficially Colorful Lacquer, Girly bits, Butter London, Glam Polish, Cirque Colors etc are top of my list for now. I couldn't pick one over the other. It's pretty much depending on which one I come across first.

Fair play if you made it all the way through! It was a long one but it was actually really interesting to do.

19 May 2015

It's fairly obvious where I got my inspiration for this weeks Twinsie Tuesday post! This week we are focusing on our favourite mugs. Being a big Super Mario fan it was an easy pick for me. I have done several Super Mario manicures and I have another one swatches and ready to go. Back to today's post....

I started with a white base on all of my nails apart from the middle which is Illamasqua Monogamous. The red is Sally Hansen Complete Salon manicure in Right Said Fred. The yellow polish I picked was OPI I just can't cope-acabana. For the black I used Orly Liquid Vinyl. The blue for Mario's eyes is Barry m Cyan Blue.For his brown hair I added a touch of Barry m Mushroom to the sides of his head. I added Essence Matt about you! matte topcoat so the design would really stand out.

I am really pleased with the way this turned out. I think you can do a load of interesting nail designs by taking inspiration from mugs.

18 May 2015

A simple manicure for today's post. If you read my most recent Essence Swatch posts you might be confused by the Prince Charming polish. This Prince Charming was a limited edition polish that was part of the Snow White collection. I hate when brands reuse names but at least one of the polishes is no longer available so it won't be as confusing.

I started with 2 coats of Nails Inc Bluebell. This is a lovely polish that is really opaque but like all of the Nails Inc polishes that I've tried it chips incredibly easy. To try and stop this from happening I added on a coat of Essence Prince charming, a sparse holographic topcoat with blue hex glitters.

Simple to do when you are stuck but you don't have time to do nail art or anything fancy.

15 May 2015

I saved the best polish until last for my Essence the Gel nail polish review. This is Play with my mint and it is beautiful. The only thing I don't like about this polish is the dodgy name! This is the perfect polish colour for Spring and Summer. This would look great on any skintone and any nail length/shape. It's bright without being neon or too in your face. In the sun it looks unreal (all my pictures were taken in direct sunlight).

Formula wise it is spot on, I was expecting this to be thin and streaky seeing as it is a bright colour. Both Play with my mint and Love is in the air were swatched last because I thought they would be the hardest to work with. Thankfully I was proven wrong. Even on my longer nails this is perfect in 2 coats. It dries quickly and it has that lovely gel like gloss to it. If you like this colour then I really recommend picking up a bottle of Play with my mint,

Play with my mint is available now for €1.79 from pharmacies and Penny's around Ireland.

13 May 2015

The second to last polish I have to show ye from the Essence The gel nail polish line is Black is Back. This is one that I have tried before but in the Colour and Go range. I have to say the only real difference is the glossy finish. The formula is still amazing. You can almost get away with one coat. It's easy to put on with practically no clean up necessary. I do use a lot of Black nail polish in nail art so I'm glad the formula on this is as good as my previous bottle. I actually just finished my old bottle of Black is back about two weeks ago and I've been using either Orly Liquid Vinyl or Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl since.

Black is Back is similar to Vinyl in formula and finish. The only real difference being the brush and the price. I don't think Vinyl is available anymore so if you are looking for a good black polish then pick up a bottle of Black is back if you can. This is ten times better than Liquid Vinyl so I can't really compare them.

Black is back is available in the gel nail polish range for €1.79 from Penny's and pharmacies around Ireland.

12 May 2015

This weeks Twinsie Tuesday post is based on a piece of art that we were inspired by. I'm always interested in the artwork found on book covers so I went with one of my all-time favourite book series' from Terry Pratchett. This is actually the first installment of the series. I hope to do a manicure inspired by all 40 books in the collection so it'll be a long one!

The first book as ye can already tell is The Colour of Magic. For this manicure I kept it pretty simple. I based it on the 2 main characters in the book and the design of their clothes. Rincewind is the wizard on my middle finger and he has stars on his clothing (representing magic). Twoflower the tourist is on my ring finger. He wears a typical holiday shirt that is flowery and colourful. The Colour of magic was actually made into a film that was aired on Sky1 and that's where I got my colour scheme for this clothes.

For Ricewind I started off with Essence Iced Latte. The grey for his beard is a mix of OPI Sull and Glossbones, Lac Attack Puddle Jumping and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Greige. The raspberry polish I used for his hat and on my index finger is Barry m Raspberry. The gold stars were done with Essence Watch out Lady Tremaine! from the limited edition Cinderella collection.

For Twoflower I used Illamasqua Monogamous for the base. His hat is Essence I <3 Trends in I'm so fluffy. The black I used on both characters is Orly Liquid Vinyl. For his flowery shirt I used OPI I just Can't copeacabana,Catrice Lucky in Lilac and Sally Hansen Complete Salon manicure in Peach of Cake. I topped the entire manicure with the Sally Hansen Miracle gel topcoat.

I really enjoy the Rincewind books. Even in the beginning they were witty and it didn't take long at all to get through the book. The other Twinsie Tuesday posts are linked below if you want to go and see what the other girls came up with for this prompt.

11 May 2015

Essence Wonderfuel is probably the most disappointing polish I have from the Essence the gel nail polishes. I don't really like the colour and the formula is the most watery of the 10 that I have tried so far. It's a dark plum purple with a blue shimmer. It looks the most impressive in sunlight bit it's fine in regular lighting too.

As I said the formula is watery so I needed 3 coats. There is a chance you will need a forth depending on the length of your nails and how you apply it. I noticed that it seemed to pull away from the tips of my nails as I applied it making it look like I had tipwear already. It does dry glossy like the other polishes in this collection so that is a bonus. I personally don't like the way this looks on my nails so it's not one I'd get a lot of use out of, especially given the formula.

Wonderfuel is available now for €1.79. You can find it in Penny's and pharmacies around Ireland.

07 May 2015

Prince Charming was one of the surprise polishes in the set that I have of the Essence the gel nail polish line. At first glance I thought it was just a slightly darker turquoise. Even in the bottle it look plain in regular lighting. It wasn't until I went to apply my first coat that I saw the amazing blue/green shimmer. The shimmer is way more intense in person though, the camera really does not do it any justice. It looks unreal in the sun!

This is another 2 coater. The formula is smooth and it covers really well. No streaks or bald spots. It does go on a bit sheer on the first coat but it builds up perfectly with the second.Depending on the length of your nails you might need a third coat but if you do slightly thicker coats it won't be a problem. I will say the colour is nicer on the nail than it looks in the bottle. That's one reason why I like to read blogs based on nail polish. They can look so different when you wear them. You could completely dismiss a polish based on the bottle but regret it when you see swatches (and visa versa). Thankfully this looks beautiful on the nail.

06 May 2015

4 ever young is a light raspberry crelly from the new Essence the gel nail polish line. Initially I thought this would be a 3 coater but it was actually opaque in 2 coats. Crelly formulas tend to be more sheer on the first coat but they build up easily on the second.

Like the other polish in this range (that I have tried at least) the formula is good. I rarely have any clean up to do with these polishes. The brush is wide but not too wide. I can easily get close to my cuticle without flooding it or having polish run down the sides of my nails. I didn't have any trouble with staining but I would recommend using a basecoat just to be on the safe side.

Dry time is really impressive with these so far. Less than 2 minutes and they are ready for the next coat. Like the rest of my swatches for the polishes in this range I don't have on a topcoat.

4 ever young is available now in Penny's and pharmacies around Ireland.